As Mexico's Dominant Cartel Gains Power, The President Vows 'Hugs, Not Bullets'
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel dominates fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking and is linked to various assassinations. But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says, "We will not declare war."
At first glance, a video circulating on Mexican social media this month appears to show a boisterous unit of security forces. For more than two minutes, the camera pans across a line of masked men in combat fatigues, stretching down a rural road. Some stand beside armored vehicles painted in camouflage colors, firing military-grade weapons into the air. Others peer out of makeshift turrets atop the vehicles.
Turn up the volume on , though, and it's clear this is no regular force.
